Interlude 7(a) - Monday Mess-ups
Yawning as he stepped out of the bathroom, Ephraim dried his hair with a towel. The night's sleep was incredibly satisfying, knowing that he was fully secure with a friend that could handle himself in case of an attack. It was the usual; a dreamless, quiet night, occasionally broken by the arguing of neighboring girls.
"Your hair's getting long."
Royal purple glanced over to his roommate, who was nursing a mug of coffee. A towel and pair of boxers were tucked under his arm, since he was next to take a shower. His words made him pause and remove the towel from his head, a hand running through the damp dirty blonde locks.
…He was right. His hair was getting long.
It no longer stopped at his nape, rather, the tips were just shy of brushing past shoulder-level. His bangs were starting to inch beyond his lips when he brought a strand forward, and the sides were beginning to creep well past his ears.
'Hah, I wonder if I could rock the Neo Roanoke look...'
"...Might have a haircut soon, this weekend maybe." Ephraim shrugged as he set the towel on his bed, just beside his folded uniform. He was clad in only his black boxer briefs, and as such, this allowed Ryo to look at the discolored patch of flesh on his right bicep.
The surgery was quick, since the wound itself was clean and the nanobots were efficient in their work. The bandages last night were there more as a formality, and as a precaution just in case something pierced the same spot.
The blonde looked over to his roommate again, who was just stepping into the bathroom. "You look like you need a haircut too." He smirked slightly. "Your bangs are getting long enough to make you look like a hentai protag."
"Fuck off," Was the courier's eloquent response. "You damned blonde bastard, damned walking hentai tag..."
"You're just jealous I got to clap some cheeks." Ephraim countered with a cheeky grin as he put his pants on. "And got paid while doing it."
"Shut up and fuck off, riajuu!"
The uproarious laughter, muffled as it was, was heard all the way to the end of the hall by many of the waking girls.
Later…
They met up with Davion along the way to their class, preferring to walk rather than take the in-island tram like some of the students. The three boys waved to the girls that greeted them, placing their friendly masks as they walked together, willfully ignoring the excited whispers around.
They've dealt with fujoshis for this long, they could handle a bit more.
"Here."
Spotting the glint far before it was tossed, the tall blonde raised his hand to catch the golden Closed form of his Astray, quickly putting the cufflinks on the sleeves of his dress shirt. "Still nothing?" Ephraim asked as they entered the main Academic Building.
"Sadly, no." Davion sighed, his brows furrowing and lips curling into a snarl. "Damn thing is practically impenetrable. Fucking firewall…"
Once the glass doors opened, their ears were assaulted with the usual din and noise of chatter common in education settings, especially when it was before class.
"So what happened while I was in Okinawa?" Ephraim asked, putting on his choker as the trio slipped past students of varying year levels.
"Davion went on a date with Sarashiki-san." Ryo tattled with a smirk, the bespectacled teen fully aware that that specific scene had been spread within the gossip circles by now. "Got a kiss on the cheek from it too."
"Wha-hey!" The mechanic blushed healthily. "That's not-!"
"Huh," The blonde smiled and patted his friend's shoulder. "Congrats. She's a nice girl, I think you'll be in good hands."
Davion gave the taller blonde a narrow glare. "What's that supposed to mean?"
The purple-eyed Astray pilot merely smirked.
As they entered their class, they all went over to place their respective bags at their seats. Since they were early, not that many students were here. Those that were merely gave them smiles or nods as greetings, which they returned with their own.
Ryo glanced around the room, noting that the usual cast wasn't here yet.
'Most likely eating breakfast.' He shrugged as he brought out Gerbera Straight to spin idly. Pulling out his compact headphones, he put them over his ears and began to listen to a shuffled playlist. The three of them didn't go to the cafeteria for breakfast today, mostly relying on some energy bars they still had stashed away from back during their wandering days.
His roommate pulled out his notepad and began to scribble down the essay assignment that he was supposed to have done over the weekend. Of course, he was in Okinawa so he didn't have the time to do so at all. When the first break was upon them, he was going to have to rush over to the library to type it out and then submit it to Yamada-sensei. He wasn't able to do it last night either, as his body was screaming at him to sleep after he explained the events that happened on his end to Ryo.
Davion, in the meanwhile, merely crossed his arms and slumped in his chair. Catching a few more minutes of sleep seemed good, especially with the current quiet of the classroom. Pulling his hood over his head, he closed his eyes so he could take a catnap.
There was a relative quiet for a good dozen minutes before the rest of the class began to stream inside, filling the room with chatter and an air of merriment.
'Good Morning!' were exchanged between friends and classmates. Those same greetings were returned by the three Astray pilots with varying results. Most of them came from Ephraim, though in half-hearted greetings as he was too busy writing. Ryo waved and smiled, though he listened to his music, and Davion was asleep.
"Good morning, Sir Sahaku!" Cecilia beamed at the other blonde as she marched in, though her smile lessened when she saw him scribbling things down in his notepad.
"Morning, Lady Alcott." The Gold Frame pilot raised his head and sent a tired smile at her. "Please, forgive my lack of enthusiasm this morning, I'm quite behind on assignments so I'm giving most of my morning energy to finishing it as soon as I can."
"I can aid you, if you wish?" The noblewoman offered with a fond smile as she set her book satchel by her table next to his. "It's understandable that you'd lag behind due to your…well, wound."
"I am humbled by your offer, Lady Alcott, but you know me." A bit more cheer, and that usual arrogant air, returned to his face. "I prefer to do my assignments my own way."
The shorter blonde could only shake her head, a titter escaping her lips.
"Good morning, everyone!" Ichika greeted as he walked in, Houki trailing behind him with a small yawn.
"Good morning, Orimura-kun!"
"Morning!"
"Morning, guys!" The Byakushiki pilot greeted the Astray pilots. "Didn't see you in the cafeteria for breakfast earlier, what's up?"
"Had to finish the assignment I missed over the weekend." Ephraim succinctly answered.
Ryo merely raised an energy bar amidst his bobbing to the beat of his music.
"Zzzz…" Davion lightly snored.
"Oh yeah! Your arm alright?" The younger boy asked as he set his book satchel by his desk. "I haven't really experienced the surgery part of the Infirmary…"
"Because you were unconscious back when they set your ribs back." Ephraim snorted as he stopped his writing, somewhat satisfied with what he had written down. "After the test machine rampage, they had to use nanobots to fix your ribs and sternum. You got hit straight in the center of the chest." Royal purple eyes glanced up at him with a raised brow. "If you were awake for that…well, open chest surgery."
Ichika paled. "W-Well, I…uh…ew."
"G-Good morning, class!" Maya Yamada greeted with a stilted cheer as she entered the room, surprising many at her rather early entrance. "I…um, have news!"
Many of the students standing around quickly went to their seats, mutters of confusion and wonder prevalent amidst the quiet din of class beginning.
At the back, Honne walked over and poked the sleeping mechanic's sides, causing him to jolt and nearly fall off his chair. His eyes snapped open and he looked around in a slight panic, pulling his hood back down and running a hand through his bed hair.
The pinkette giggled as she leaned close to his ear. "Oujo-sama was veeeery happy this morning~" The teasing smile on the sleepy girl's lips caused him to shudder. "I also heard some rumooors~"
Cheeks flushing, he waved off his seatmate with an embarrassed scowl. "Shush!"
Maya cleared her throat, silencing the mutterings and whispers as all attention turned to her. The Astray trio blinked and settled down as they watched the expression on the green haired teacher's face turn from cheerful to somewhat confused.
"I'd...like to introduce to you a new transfer student today..."
Ryo spun the Gerbera Pen around his fingers a bit faster this time, the action masking his nervousness as he glanced at his classmate's faces. His teacher was uneasy, unsure of how to approach the situation. He glanced at his friends to see their own reactions.
Ephraim appeared nonchalant as usual, though he seemed more focused on feeling the fabric of his tie. It was one of the few that he brought back with him from his trip to Okinawa, colored in the shades of dusk and dawn. Tabane's white rabbit tie-clip matched decently against the yellow-orange of the fabric, but Ephraim didn't really care for it. The tie perfectly complimented his golden choker and its sun themes.
Davion was leaning on his table, gloved hands and fingers tented as he got into the iconic 'Gendo Ikari' pose. His grey eyes seemed to emulate the glasses of the man, reflecting light and masking his own emotions. As ever, he had eyebags that displayed his lack of sleep.
The door hissed open and everyone else turned to see who had just entered.
"Huh?"
"Hmm?"
"Oh?"
Ichika knew not to look at Houki, who was giving him the most intense glare he has ever had from her. He glanced at Ryo, who had the chance to look back. Both of their faces were masks of stone, but even they could see the nervousness lying underneath.
"Hello, I am...Charlotte Dunois!" The Frenchwoman smiled at the class. "It is very nice to be meeting all of you once again."
"Huuuh?!"
"Eh?!"
The green haired teacher chuckled uneasily. "Yes, it seems Mister Dunois...turned out to be a Miss. We were kinda shocked too."
'Bullshit you were shocked...' Ephraim mentally groused.
It wouldn't have made sense if a world renowned academy would have been tricked that easily.
...Right?
Charlotte looked over to Ryo and sent him a beaming grin, and he turned his head to hide the flushing of his cheeks. Memories of that time in the baths came crashing back, and he had to force the blush down from becoming supernova.
The rest of the class continued to react in stunned and stunted voices, their minds reeling from the apparent betrayal that one of the boys was actually a girl this whole time.
"A-Anyway," Maya tried to appear calm but her flushed cheeks betrayed that. Her mind was going overdrive at the fact that a girl had been rooming with a boy these past few weeks. "We already know who she is, a bit of a gender change won't affect much, would it? Dunois-san, please head to your seat."
The Frenchwoman nodded with a smile and walked to her seat with a small pep in her step.
"Yamada-sensei," Ephraim raised his hand, eyeing the door with a raised brow. "Where's Orimura-sensei?"
"Oh, she's handling some kerfluffles after what happened last week." Maya chuckled uneasily. "Well, that and nursing a hangover after drinking that habushu…" The teacher muttered the last part, but it was clearly heard by the three Neo-Types.
The blonde combat assistant facepalmed.
"So!" The green-haired teacher clapped her hands, bringing all attention to her. "Let's begin the lesson on the development history of the 2nd Generations!"
Ryo turned on his desk computer, readying himself to list down the terms that he'd need to look up later.
"But first, a pop quiz on the geopolitical consequence of the emergence of the Infinite Stratos!"
"Noooo..!" Davion groaned out as he reluctantly activated his computer. He had been far too busy with upgrading, coding, and decrypting that he forgot to read up on whatever gripes each country had about the IS!
With the first half of the morning class done, the class settled into the scheduled break time with grace.
"Wait, doesn't this mean that Orimura-kun has been rooming with..?!"
"How scandalous!"
"Hey, didn't we see Charles, I mean Charlotte, exit the Men's Bathhouse with Murakumo-kun last Friday?"
"Nooo, my Charles x Ryo ship!"
...Well, as much grace as they could given the rather shocking revelation.
The Frenchwoman ignored all the whispers and gossip as she made her way to where her friends were gathering, which was at the front before the teacher's desk. She met Ryo's eyes and once again they looked away, bringing an amused smile on her face.
"Ichika..!" Houki snarled as she shook the dazed boy. "How dare you!"
"What do you mean?" The male IS pilot cried out, trying his best to not hurl his breakfast as everything began to spin. "What did I do this time?!"
Cecilia merely huffed, looking quite confused at everything. A mix of emotions were clear in her eyes, the foremost being disbelief as the scandalous thought of a young man and woman rooming together kept on repeating in her mind.
Like most of the girls on the island, she had only ever read such things in saucy pocket books or the occasional online story. Before they had schooled in the IS Academy, they were in All-Girls schools and more often than not, any male presence within a few miles were removed. Thus, interaction between those girls and men were more often than not, rarer than a four-leaf clover.
Cecilia was one of those girls, having enrolled in one of the most premier all-girls academy in the UK.
"Wha-how-why?" The noblewoman muttered, jolting slightly when Ephraim stepped up beside her with nary a sound, making himself known with a small nudge to her arm. She looked up at him with a pleading gaze, as if wanting him to clear up the turmoil she was currently experiencing.
The taller blonde looked down at her and pulled out a strawberry lollipop from his suit jacket, offering it to her with a raised brow. He then had to repress the chuckle bubbling up his throat at the sheer deadpan look she gave him.
Davion, meanwhile, merely watched with a small grin. It faded however as he looked around, finally noting the lack of a certain German-
Crash!
The sound of the wall being broken down caused the three boys to whirl around and settle into combat stances.
Rin and her Shenlong stomped inside, right through the rubble and ruin of their front door, her face in a rictus of rage as the rest of Class 1-1 began to scream in shock and surprise.
"Ichikaaa!" The Chinese Representative Candidate roared out as the Ryuhou Cannons began to charge.
The younger Orimura's head snapped to her, eyes wide in a panic as he and Houki gaped at the IS-clad girl.
"Bwah?!" Ichika squawked, flailing his arms as he tried to dissuade the angry girl. "No, for the love of God, don't shoot!"
Time slowed down and the three Neo-Types interposed themselves between Rin and those that were closest to them, faces expressing a mix of confusion, disbelief, and determination. White-gold motes formed around them, quickly encasing the trio in their Astrays.
Ephraim quantized his shield, holding it before him and making sure to not dig the pronged bottom into the flooring. In his other hand, he held his black-gold spear, the blade glinting in the morning light. Cecilia's eyes widened at the sheer speed of the man that was acting as her shield.
Gerbera Straight and Tiger Pierce were immediately in the hands of Ryo, crossed together in front of him defensively. His eyes narrowed behind the sea-green optics of the Red Frame, flickering as he tensed in preparation. He had stepped in front of Charlotte, whose hand was rising to activate her own IS.
Davion dashed to the front of all three of them, nearly tripping but recovering thanks to the counterweight of the Tactical Arms forming in his hand. The massive blade was heavy, but the motors and power cylinders in the Blue Frame's arms allowed the suit to wield it as if it was some light stick. He presented the just-as-massive flat of the blade to the Shenlong, bracing himself for the inevitable impact of the shockwave.
"Hold it!"
"Wha-?!"
The sound of metal on metal echoed in the room, alongside Rin's protests. The Blue Frame lowered its Tactical Arms, its sea-green optics looking straight into the amber visor of the Strike Uchigane.
"Kanzashi?" Davion let out a small noise of surprise. "How did you..?"
"Is that the fucking Strike?!" Ephraim exclaimed in their private radio channel.
"Oh right, I forgot to mention that." Ryo chuckled in the same radio channel.
"I was escorting Bodewig-san back to class from the Faculty." The armored bluenette answered him, holding the Shenlong in a full nelson. The Strike Uchigane turned its head, looking over its shoulder at something. "Isn't that right, Orimura-sensei?"
"That's correct, Sarashiki-san."
Rin paled.
Stepping around the mess that was the front doors, Chifuyu walked past the Shenlong and Strike with the albino in tow. "I leave Yamada-sensei in charge of the class for the first half of the morning while I was dressing down Bodewig and this happens?"
Ichika heaved a sigh of relief as Houki let him go. "Thank goodness, I thought that we were gonna die there..." The boy collapsed on his butt, face pale and hands clammy as he closed his eyes.
"Sensei." Ephraim nodded to her as he lowered his weapon and shield, quantizing them back into the Astray's inventory.
"Let me go!" Rin growled as she thrashed in the Strike Uchgane's grip.
"No."
"Huang, your ass better be at my office before lunch." Chifuyu growled as she looked at the rubble. "I won't repeat myself, so get back to your class."
When those brown eyes looked up into her greens, the Chinese Representative Candidate gulped and slumped in the Strike's grip.
"Yes, ma'am…"
Sharing a glance, the Astray trio dematerialized their suits and weapons. Within another blink, the Astray themselves were gone, the three uniformed students in their place.
"Guten Morgen, Ryo-nii." Laura greeted the green-eyed courier with a small, unsure smile.
…
Ryo could feel the stares as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"'Nii'? Brother?"
"Did she just call him brother?"
"Are Murakumo-kun and Bodewig related?"
"That's…what? I-I mean, I can see some resemblance…"
"'Ryo-nii'?" Ephraim rose a brow as he stared at the courier with veiled intensity. "What else did I miss over the weekend?"
Laura suddenly cleared her throat as she stepped forward, bringing all eyes to her at the action. The blonde Astray pilot narrowed his eyes at her before going back to fixing his roommate a subtle glare, with Ryo merely keeping a straight face at it.
"I..." The albino started, her expression twisting into one of discomfort and embarrassment as she bowed at the waist. "I'm sorry!"
Plenty of exchanged glances, lips moving in whispers and mutterings as the class raised brows or furrowed them.
"For my actions ever since I transferred here, I am sorry." The German continued, fists clenching by her sides. "I...I have never been around this many people and I got nervous. I will admit, I was prideful of my own abilities and that further blinded me to all of your own skills. My inferiority complex just made things even worse..."
Davion sent a glance at Ephraim, raising a brow at her words as their eyes met. 'She has an inferiority complex?'
The blonde shrugged imperceptibly.
Chifuyu sighed as she placed a hand on her former pupil's head, lightly ruffling it as Laura's sole red eye widened in surprise. "Let's not waste any more time with miscellaneous topics. Look, she apologized for her actions. Either you forgive her or you don't, let's focus on the here and now." The teacher grumbled as she turned back to the two IS-clad students. "Sarashiki, can you drag Huang outside the room? I don't need her flailing about in the Shenlong."
Rin colored, her face reddening in embarrassment and anger. "I don't flail! I just wanted to punish Ichika for-!"
"Enough!" Ephraim suddenly snapped, his brow twitching as he leveled an irritated glare at the Class 1-2 representative. "This is, by far, the worst overreaction I have witnessed from anyone in the Academy. You wanted to 'punish' Orimura-san by shooting at him with a shockwave cannon? Where there are other people around that are just as squishy as him?!"
"I-!"
"You blew open our door!" Cecilia cried out from behind the taller blonde, her expression the very essence of an affronted noblewoman. "Who does that?!"
The Chinese Representative Candidate had the decency to look guilty, at least.
"I think the blown door might have damaged the holoboard." Ryo noted in a dry tone, looking over his shoulder to check on Charlotte. The Frenchwoman was sighing in relief, lowering her hand from the necklace.
"Ryo-nii is correct." Laura nodded as she crossed her arms. "I can see the corner of the holoboard having cracks on it."
Ryo pinched the bridge of his nose.
'God damn it, Laura.'
"Sarashiki-san. Huang, outside. Now." Chifuyu sighed, palming her face with a shaking hand.
"At once, sensei." Kanzashi nodded as she began to take steps back out of the room, bringing the Shenlong with her. The visor depolarized and the bluenette's ruby eyes looked over at Davion, who gave a cheerful wave. Her face quickly flushed and the visor polarized once more into amber, and both IS-clad girls ducked away from sight.
"Sahaku. Orimura."
The two boys stood straight, the latter quickly getting up from the ground. "Yes, ma'am!" They fought the urge to salute, a cold sweat dripping down their backs as Chifuyu glared at them.
She pointed at the blonde. "I want you to write down exactly what happened here, and I want that report before lunch with my lunch." Switching her target to her younger brother, she gave him a growl. "And you need to file the documents required to repair the wall. Because if you don't, you'll be paying for the damages from your own pocket."
"Wha-?!" Ichika tried to protest but was elbowed in the side by the taller boy.
"We'll get right to it, ma'am." Her assistant assured her, his face settling into a professional mask. "The Class Representative and I will do as we are told."
"Good." The teacher then turned her head to look once more at the damage. With another sigh, she shook her head. "We can't have a normal class today, so…"
Davion quietly wished that class was canceled…
"Sparring Lessons at the Dojo." The elder Orimura announced, just as Maya peeked in with wide eyes at the busted down door and walls. "There won't be an afternoon class later because the door will need repairing, so you know what that means."
'More training…' Most of the students realized with glum faces.
"Y-Yes, Orimura-sensei..."
"Oh, and before I forget." Chifuyu's lips curled into an evil grin. "1st Term exams are in two weeks, so you best start studying also."
Everyone's eyes widened.
"Scheiße." Ephraim cursed out loud.
Smack!
Which rewarded him with a slap to the back of his head.
.
.
.
"Chesto!"
Thud!
"Argh!"
A few heads turned to see Ichika on his back with Davion easing from a combat stance that some recognized as Bajiquan. The mechanic was wearing a modified gi, something that he requested multiple times. It was sleeveless, thus allowing everyone to see his muscled arms and the scars that littered them.
He finally got said request fulfilled when his gi's sleeves outright exploded back during a spar with Ephraim.
Who knew flexing could do that?
"Okay…I think I recognize that move from ConsciousCog…" The Byakushiki pilot wheezed as Davion gave him a hand. Clasping his own around it, the shorter teen was pulled up from the mat.
"Do you really use video games to identify moves?" Grey eyes crinkled in mirth.
Ichika chuckled as he rubbed his back. "Well, anime and other media showcase stuff like that all the time. Of course I'd recognize one or a few from 'em."
"Ha! Fair point. I also use those as inspiration for drawi-"
Thud!
"Ow!"
Both of them turned their heads to see Cecilia on her back in a vague mirror of what just happened to Ichika moments prior. Laura was standing over her, relaxing from a Jiu-Jitsu stance just as Ephraim power walked over to the noblewoman. The albino took one step closer only to stop when the taller blonde gave her a look.
Davion sighed when he saw the German's face turn from worried to dejected. He focused his hearing, ignoring the usual murmurs and gossip amidst those that were finished with their sparring…
…
"...ecilia? You froze up when Bodewig grabbed you-"
"I-I froze..? I…it's her eye, it still haunts me. And…and the choking-"
The mechanic saw his friend's brows shoot up before furrowing as he helped the noblewoman up. He immediately looked away from them, knowing that eavesdropping any further would have been rude.
Beside him, Ichika pursed his lips, eyes narrowed as he looked at the German and then at his classmates. Laura was unpopular amongst their class, that much was obvious, but…
"Alright, that wraps up the sparring lesson!" Chifuyu clapped her hands to gain all of their attention. "Remember that Exams are two weeks away! This does not give you the excuse to slack off on physical training!"
"A sound body keeps a sound mind, after all." The blonde combat assistant quoted as Cecilia slowly extracted herself from him, cooling her troubled expression into her usual noble countenance. "I'm just as enthused as you all are about the exams."
His deadpan delivery brought about a round of chuckles and giggles from the class, as well as an eye roll from his superior.
"Dismissed!" The elder Orimura barked out before fixing an expectant look at her assistant. "And Sahaku? My lunch."
"Yes, sensei, I know."
The locker room was one of the few places the boys could claim as 'sanctuary' away from the girls and gossip. Of course, it used to be in the ownership of the girls, meaning that it was way bigger than they needed it to be. They only needed one row of lockers for themselves, after all, not almost a dozen!
"Are you telling me that they built a bathhouse? For men? In this damn school?"
Ichika chuckled uneasily as he put on his undershirt. "Yeeeep. I went there on Saturday after the make-up matches and boy was it relaxing. It's like an onsen."
Ephraim sent him an incredulous look as he finished knotting his tie. "There's only four of us."
"Huh, I should try that sometimes. I haven't been to an onsen since last November!" Davion grinned as Ryo used a spare comb to try and tame his unruly hair. It's also been getting longer, anymore and the three Neo-Types were going to look like those hentai protagonists without eyes.
"That was during our trip to Hokkaido right?" Ryo chuckled as he used a comb to get rid of any knots in his hair. "Man, we acted like total dorks back then, wide-eyed at everything there."
The Byakushiki pilot glanced at the three Astray pilots, his face twisting into a troubled expression. He had been wanting to approach them but…
"Speaking of the bathhouse, what's this I heard of Charlotte entering it with you, Ryo?" Ephraim's lips curled into a teasing grin as he turned his head towards his roommate. "Guess you had a 'Happy Hour', eh?"
The courier's cheeks flushed as he flipped his roommate off. "No, I didn't. Get your mind out of the gutter. It's like your libido is always on, you-"
"Hey, uh…guys."
All three of them turned towards the sole IS pilot in the room. Ichika looked rather uneasy, unsure of himself, and unprepared whether or not he should go forward with his action.
"About last Friday…um." The younger Orimura scratched the back of his head. "I…saw."
…
"Saw what?" Davion raised a brow. "Ryo getting out of the bathhouse with Charlotte-?"
Smack!
"Shut up!" The green-eyed snarled as he lowered his hand, the mechanic rubbing the back of his head afterwards. "I don't need you to join in on the teasing!"
Ichika took a deep breath, noting the rather intense gaze of the sole blonde in the room. His brow was also raised, a silent demand for him to continue.
"Isawyouguys'past!" He blurted out, instinctively raising his hands as his heartbeat echoed in his ears.
…
Click…
"...And?" The Gold Frame pilot's voice was quiet, yet there was steel underneath that calm. It felt like one wrong word would get him impaled by his spear! "What are you going to do about it?"
Opening his eyes, he peered over his hands and jolted at the sight of the rifle in the blonde's hand. He recognized the form and make as one of those western assault rifles but could not specify which.
Cha-chack!
His blood ran cold as Ephraim pulled the charging handle back, those eerily empty eyes staring at him with great intensity. "I won't repeat myself, Orimura, what are you going to do about it?"
Ryo interposed himself between the two, putting a hand on the rifle and lowering it. "Ephraim chill, put the G36 down. This is Ichika we're talking about, you know, a friend?" The courier hissed. "He can keep a secret. Right, Ichika?"
He saw the lifeline and he took it.
"O-Of course!" The younger boy yelped, waving his hands in a show of non-aggression. "I-I didn't mean to, you know! There was just bright flash and stuff and everything became a blur and I heard voices-"
Davion sighed as he raised a hand, almost hunching in his seat. "Bro, chill. We get it. You saw what we were. Guess that explains a lot about us, huh?" He sent a small grin at the IS pilot, though it lacked enthusiasm.
Ichika gulped once more to wet his dry throat, his heart pounding as he saw the rifle in Ephraim's hand disperse into white-gold motes. The blonde himself took a deep breath and leaned back into the lockers, his expression twisting into one of agitation.
"Motherfucker!" The sheer venom in his voice could have killed if it could.
Ryo sighed as he gestured to the bench the mechanic was on. "Ichika, sit. I'll try to summarize our story, so you better buckle up."
Later…
Dark brown eyes narrowed ever so slightly as her assistant placed her lunch before her. There was an angry air about him, that she could tell even through the plastered-on smile. She could only guess that it centered around her brother again.
Whatever Ichika had done, it had riled up Ephraim in the way she hadn't seen since her three idiots' first weeks in the Academy.
"Emiya-san chose simple homemade meals as the theme of today's challenge." The blonde huffed in amusement as he stepped back from her desk. "She cooked Salisbury Steak while I went for a more balanced set of teriyaki stir-fry." He glanced behind him briefly and she caught the twitch of his left hand's pointer finger.
"Well, I better get to typing my assignment-"
"Sit." Chifuyu ordered with a glance at the chair by her desk. "I told you that we'll continue our talk from the Infirmary, didn't I?"
Ephraim's face was ever an impassive mask, but his eyes showed more than enough of his inner thoughts to her. Those royal purples of his were a crackling mess of aggression and that clearly did not bode well. With a sigh, her assistant sat down and leaned back against the backrest of the leather-bound chair.
"Talk." The teacher leaned forward in her seat and tented her fingers, her thumbs supporting her chin as she stared at him. "Elaborate what you meant by Bodewig wanting to replace Ichika. Tell me how the three of you and her managed to see each others' past."
Her assistant sighed as he massaged his temples. "...Orimura also saw."
…
"What..?"
Ephraim's brow twitched at whisper, feeling the increasing pressure from his superior. "He told us earlier in the locker room that he also witnessed what Bodewig saw. He saw our pasts, saw the atrocity that was Project: Neo-Type…and he knows that we're not normal humans." The blonde muttered with tense muscles, readying himself to leap away from the deadly woman within arm's reach.
His mind briefly wandered back to the tense talk just an hour earlier…
"So that's how you guys are so good in combat…we never really had a chance in the first place, huh?"
"Ichika, you saw us kill people…you…you saw Ephraim eliminate his siblings." Ryo stressed with furrowed brows. "You saw me systematically purge and prune ones I could call my siblings. You saw Davion engineer weapons that could kill even more people! Why do you sound so…so nonplussed about all this?!"
Ichika merely smiled at them with a hint of caution. "Because…they're not you now, yeah?"
"Huh?" Davion blinked, looking at the IS pilot like he just said something stupid. "Ichika, what-"
"You're not Sigma-66, Delta-444, or Alpha-207. Not anymore." The younger teen then sent them an appreciative look. "You're Ephraim. You're Ryo. You're Davion."
The three Neo-Types stared at him with varying emotions, ranging from incredulity to absolute shock.
The Byakushiki pilot merely grinned. "You guys are my friends. You aren't those guys anymore, you guys are more than your past. You all regret what you've done, I see that whenever you help others. Like you, Ephraim, you're harsh during training because you don't want people to be complacent right? So they won't get hurt too easily?"
From his position against the lockers, the blonde merely tensed his jaw. Ichika was displaying massive amounts of 'Protagonist Energy' with his words and it pissed him off!
"Davion," The boy continued, turning to the gaping mechanic. "You tinker and make stuff now for the betterment of you guys. Not for some shady person or a higher authority, but for you guys to better protect others."
The grey-eyed teen closed his mouth, narrowing his eyes slightly at the younger pilot as he shook his head with a small huff.
The IS pilot turned his head to the blank-faced swordsman, whose green eyes were hidden by the sheen of his glasses' lenses. "And Ryo, now you're trying to befriend everyone not out of some need to manipulate or exploit them, you're befriending others because...well, you want to. And you saved as many as you can in that facility. You released them and-"
"I led them to their deaths so the three of us could escape, Ichika." Ryo interrupted him with a deathly whisper, his lips curling into a grim frown. "Their deaths still weigh heavy on my mind, in my dreams. Whatever I do now, it'll never be enough for all the lives I've taken before the breakout, much less what happened after."
"But that's just it." Ichika smiled softly. "While tragic is the least that I can call what happened there, their memories live on in you, in all of you. You guys are better people now, living for their sake..."
…
"Shut the fuck up, Orimura." Ephraim snarled as he pushed off the lockers, grabbing his suit jacket before storming over to the locker room doors. "You don't know what you're talking about."
SLAM!
'...In hindsight, I think he did know what he was talking about.' The blonde mused as the elder Orimura's brow twitched. 'If I recall correctly…he lost his memories in some event when he was younger, I think. Back during the 2nd Mondo Grosso..?'
"God damn it…" Chifuyu muttered, her tented fingers curling into fists. "That goddamn idiot..!"
The combat assistant looked away from her, pursing his lips before opening them. "He can keep a secret." He ground out with a frown. "Your brother's many things, but a snitch isn't one of them."
He heard his superior take a deep breath, and the pressure receded ever so slightly. "Tell me…" She breathed out in a low hiss. "Everything."
Purple eyes glanced over to the corner of her office, right at his mini-fridge that she still hasn't returned. Standing up, he walked over to it and opened the fridge door.
'...She drank my Johnny's. All of them, Lords below…' He mentally groused as he grabbed two cans of lemon Chuhai. "Before that, what's the status on Bodewig's punishment?" Ephraim asked as he stood back up, closing the fridge door with his foot.
"She won't be allowed to use an IS for two weeks and she has to help the aggrieved parties in whatever they need." Chifuyu snapped as she leaned back on her chair, staring into his eyes as he turned around. There was a lot of turmoil in those dark browns of hers, and they merely dimmed into a dangerous haze when he slid one of the cans across the desk to her. "Loewenherz will be closely monitoring her actions while she's not in class."
Releasing a low groan, he leaned back in the chair and opened his Chuhai with a snap-hiss. "And by aggrieved party, I assume it's us. It's also a concealed ploy to spy on us when they realized that we were able to beat one of their super soldiers, hmm?"
Snap-hiss…
"Less snark and more explaining, Sahaku." His superior growled, picking up the chopsticks with one hand while holding the can with the other. She might as well eat while listening. "Get on with it."
Ephraim sighed before taking a sip from his own can. "Alright. It all began when Ichika struck the metallic mass with the Yukihira while all of us were in contact with it…"
Later...
"...nd then we were back in the real world, weapons still locked before Bodewig fell out and...well, the rest is history."
Chifuyu massaged her temples at the utterly fantastical tale coming out of her assistant's mouth.
I mean seriously, some sort of...what, memory nexus? A bridge between consciousnesses?
But at the same time, which what made it all the more head-splitting, was the sheer amount of truth in how he spoke. The teacher had dealt with all kinds of liars before, from the serpents in sharp suits that were government leaders to corporate dregs looking to scam her into a stupid contract back during her youth. That's not to mention being friends with Tabane...
However, the one sign that her assistant was no liar this time was his expression as he spoke of Project: Neotype. There was this glint in his eyes that he couldn't conceal, despite being having a well-made look of faux-annoyance on his face. It was a glint that she was familiar with.
After all, she had that look in her eyes during the 2nd Mondo Grosso.
'This Sigma-74 was obviously his little sister but...' She glanced up at the blonde, who was shaking his now empty can of Chuhai in frustration. 'Why didn't he show any inclination of knowing her prior to all of this..?'
Was his self-claimed retrograde amnesia, his excuse for not being able to remember what he's been doing in the years before last, real?
Has he just been going through the motions of living all these years..?
And what about his reaction during the incident? It seemed that he had some sort of foreknowledge-
'...One step at a time, Chifuyu.'
Glancing over at the window, at the sun that had gone past it's zenith, the teacher leaned back in her chair with closed eyes. "Sahaku, take a break. Get your mind off of things for a bit, study, sleep, whatever you wish to do. I know that these...resurfacing memories are hard for you-"
"Heh, understatement of the decade..."
She chose to ignore her disrespectful subordinate, opening her eyes to fix a stern stare at him. "-so I'm ordering you to take a load off."
Ephraim was silent for a good few seconds, those royal purples of his glazing over briefly before he nodded. "Understood, ma'am. Permission to leave the island?"
'What?'
"What?" Chifuyu raised a brow in question. "Why?"
Her assistant's lips curled into that stupid smug smirk he always has when they were together. "I'm gonna go restock my minifridge."
...
"You better buy some black label."
"Black and Red."
"Deal."
.
.
.
"Look, I know that you're genuine and that you want to help but...we're too broken for you to help."
Those words echoed again and again in his mind as he tossed and turned in his bed. The sun had set hours prior and the stars were out in full force. He turned his head to see if all his moving about had disturbed his roommate. The fold-out divider was in the way, but with his hearing...
...
Nothing. Charlotte was still fast asleep.
'Good.' Ichika thought as he slowly sat up, a hand massaging his forehead. 'I wouldn't want to wake her up...'
His mind kept on reviewing memories that were not his ever since last Friday, having dealt with most of the initial reactions over the weekend. Now, all he felt was...
Horror at Ephraim's forced(?) killing of his siblings.
Anger at how Davion was treated, as nothing more than some sort of gadget dispenser.
And despair at Ryo's situation where he had to execute people that would have been brothers, sisters, his friends and family...
He tried to make it clear in the locker room but...
'I guess I fumbled that one too, huh...' The IS pilot sighed quietly to himself as he laid back down, his hands crossed behind his head. 'Sahaku-san was furious at me, Ryo was troubled, and Davion seemed...resigned..?'
Narrowing his eyes at the blank ceiling, he forced himself to sleep. 'But so far, nothing's happened that would negatively affect me. Chifuyu-nee hasn't barged in and demanded that I stay quiet, or Sahaku-san hasn't gone full-on 'first week of class' mode on me again...'
A glint from the corner of his eye caught his attention and he turned his head to see a lone distant comet soar by.
...
'Death, Destruction, Upheaval...' Ichika's eyes slowly widened as he recalled one of Ran's conversations in the past. Something about symbolism back when he, Dan, and her watched a meteor shower once. 'Those are what a comet symbolizes, as well as...'
"Rebirth..."
Rustle...
He froze, realizing too late that he had muttered the last one out. Looking over, despite the action being useless with the divider between them, he made sure to watch if his roommate would sit up.
"Mmmnh...Ryo..."
'Aaand that's my cue to fall asleep.' The Byakushiki pilot quickly turned around and folded his pillow over his ears. 'Still...'
His resolute brown locked on to the distant comet, which was leaving a red trail that slowly disappeared the further it went into the horizon.
'You three place a lot of implicit trust in me despite the floundering earlier. I won't waver in my trust in all of you...'
AN:
Closer and closer we come to Episode 9, closer and closer we approach the Silver Gospel Arc!
And I'm damn terrified of dropping the ball on it.
(Edit: Mistakenly uploaded the alpha of this chapter hours before)
Reviews!
P.B.S: Ah, I can't blame you mate. Fight scenes are always an integral part when it comes to the mecha genre. Speaking of, the Alteisen eh? I'm not too familiar with the SRW OG series (I only got into the Super Robot Wars series via V and have played X and Z2 since then) but from what I've experienced with the Huckebein, the Banpresto Original Mechas are powerhouses in their own way. So I wish you the best of luck in expanding your idea! Also, damn, you have SRW model kits in your local toy store? All that I have in my area are Build Fighters stuff or those from the weird SD animations where they're in the Three Kingdoms era, I can't even find grunt suits like Zakus or Geara Zulus!
IS Academy, Engineering Club "Arzenal": 2300 Hours...
"Major Loewenherz, report."
Purple eyes glanced over at the communicator, her lips parting briefly as she reached over and answered. "The deal has been made. Leutnant Bodewig will stick with the HVTs as part of her punishment, whether or not she can gain the right amount of information is up to her."
"Then be sure to remind her that her superiors expect results. They will not tolerate failure, especially with this kind of operation."
Alektra kept her face blank as she leaned on her desk, several papers and blueprints from their only male member scattered on it. "Once the Brunhilde finds out about this, hell she already could have, we'll be in a great spot of trouble."
This prompted a conspiratorial titter from the other end of the line. "'We'? Oh, it'll be just those foggies who can't take a hit to their pride that will get the dagger. Us ground pounders have our eyes and ears closed, remember?"
The 3rd year huffed in amusement. "Right. You never really liked them, did you Tiegel?"
"Wow, yell it out for any wiretappers on this line why don't you?"
The dark-haired woman grinned as she looked down at a blueprint depicting what seemed to be a snake sword. Her mind immediately imagined her and her Raziya getting a high frequency snake sword...
"Of course. After all, it's a subordinate's job to prod and gripe about their superior, isn't it?"
'Tiegel' huffed. "Just be glad that I'm currently away from HQ. I'd have reported your fat ass to the Oberst."
Idly, Alektra copped a feel of her own rear, frowning at the less firm and more squish sensation. Perhaps she should go back to the gym, staying indoors reviewing Guele's blueprints took too much of her time...
"Anyway, I'll send your report to that cute Hauptmann Bodewig has. Now, I have a mission to do..."
"Good luck." The German IS Representative blurted out, her cheeks flushing lightly at her action. "Be safe, Oberstleutnant."
"Always will, Major. Stay safe out there."
"You too, Tiegel..."
